Calling ALL Arkansas Nurse!!
Posted almost 4 years ago by Amy Fortner
Virtual Hill Day Toolkit
June 3 & 4, 2020
School nurses are front line health care providers, serving as the bridge between the health care and education systems. School nurses serve as public health sentinels for schools as well as the communities. For many children living in or near poverty, the school nurse may be the only health care professional they access regularly. School nurses are essential in infectious disease surveillance, identification and intervention for student physical and mental health concerns, health screenings, school located vaccinations and immunization compliance efforts.
NASN’s Virtual Hill Day will create momentum and show support for this important legislation to help children be safe, healthy and ready to learn. Your participation in NASN’s Virtual Hill Day will show the ground swell of support that school nurses have across the country. Please tweet and email your Member of Congress and Senators using the samples messages below (or feel free to use your own) June 3 and 4th!
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Tweet Your Member of Congress
Social Media Messages Provided...
Handles for all U.S. Senators: https://twitter.com/cspan/lists/senators/members
Handles for all U.S. Representatives: https://twitter.com/cspan/lists/u-s-representatives
Be sure to use .@ if you are beginning your tweet with a Twitter handle, as indicated below. There is no need for a period before the @ sign if a twitter handle is not in the beginning of the tweet.
Also, please make sure to add NASN’s twitter hashtag and handle #schoolnurses @schoolnurses, to the end of all tweets.
Sample Tweets to Use
Please feel free to tweet your own message to your Member of Congress. Please include his/or her twitter handle, your message and one of the hashtags along with #schoolnurses @schoolnurses.
Schools can't safely reopen without a school nurse. (list @Legislatorhandles):, Support 10,000 New School Nurses. #schoolnurses @schoolnurses
School nurses are needed so that families know their children will be safe at school and can go back to work. (list @Legislatorhandles):, Support 10,000 New School Nurses. #schoolnurses @schoolnurses
School nurses are often the only healthcare provider that students can regularly access. (list @Legislatorhandles):, Support 10,000 New School Nurses. #school nurses @schoolnurses
School nurses keep children safe, healthy and ready to learn. (list @Legislatorhandles):, Support 10,000 New School Nurses. #schoolnurses @schoolnurses
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Email Your Member of Congress
Sample Letter Provided...
Please copy and paste this letter to email to your Congressman or Senator – you can search for your Congressman and your Senator.
Dear Congressman or Senator,
I am writing to urge you to support federal funding for 10,000 new school nurses for the upcoming school year. As a school nurse, I know firsthand how important it is for children to have a registered nurse at school to take care of their health care needs.
School re-entry is crucial for parents and guardians to go back to work. Having children at home and out of the classroom has caused undue economic and mental stress for families. Adding additional school nurses to schools across the country provides a key solution to help parents and the economy reopen. For schools to address the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, school nurses need to be in place when schools reopen and are central to the discussions of what the 2020-2021 school year will look like.
When schools reopen, it is imperative that school nurses - frontline healthcare providers - are present so that students can be healthy and safe at school, especially due to the presence of COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season. School nurses provide essential infectious disease surveillance, identification and intervention for student physical and mental health concerns, health screenings, school located vaccinations, and immunization compliance efforts. We know that keeping students in the school will have tremendous implications for the economy, workforce, and families.
As the economy begins to re-open, please consider school nurses as a key part of enabling parents to return to work and students to be safe at school. Thank you for your consideration to address the health, safety, and readiness of our nation's children by increasing school nurse positions in U.S. schools.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)